


Surprise, Surprise

by CaptainAwesome242



Category: Batman (1966)
Genre: Gen, S02E11, Secrets, Surprise Party, Surprises, s02e12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 03:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13286232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainAwesome242/pseuds/CaptainAwesome242
Summary: Keeping his dual identity secret, Dick felt, was a piece of cakeKeeping a surprise party secret from Bruce, however, was an entirely different ball game





	Surprise, Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> After watching the Clock King episodes I wanted to write a little something to show the effort that must have gone into Bruce's surprise party.
> 
> After all, tricking Batman is no mean feat, even for the Boy Wonder!

Dick had always been fairly good at keeping secrets. 

Not that he ever had very many as he believed that honesty was the best policy. But as with any rule there were exceptions, and his secret double life as Robin, the crime fighting sidekick of Gotham’s own vigilante Batman. 

Even so, despite being the biggest secret of the teenager’s life, it was a surprisingly easy secret to keep. Sure, villains attempted to unmask them every now and again but they were always defeated and the secret kept. The biggest difficulty was at home when they had to explain their sporadic and sometimes extended absences, but Alfred knew and Aunt Harriet was entirely trusting and always took their word for where they were going. On the rare occasions where she had follow up questions they could easily be deflected and any suspicions could be allayed. Keeping his dual identity secret, Dick felt, was a piece of cake.

Keeping a surprise party secret from Bruce, however, was an entirely different ball game.

Unlike Aunt Harriet, Bruce was not so easily misled and took much more effort and cunning to deceive. Dick had known it would be near impossible from the start; Batman wasn’t considered the World’s Greatest Detective for no reason, but this only spurred Dick’s enthusiasm on. He’d never been one to back down from a challenge after all and hiding something this big from Bruce was unprecedented. If he could pull it off he would ride on the success of it for the rest of his days!

But first he had to actually plan and organise it, which was not easy to do with Bruce questioning everything he did. Dick was beginning to truly appreciate just how _attentive_ Bruce actually was (correction: understand - he definitely did _not_ appreciate it right now). It was something he’d always admired about his guardian, that he could always pick up on how Dick was feeling and what he needed but now, when he was trying to keep everything top secret, it was one of the most infuriating things. Bruce had almost uncovered the whole operation a number of times but luckily quick thinking on Dick’s part, a timely interception from Alfred, and even the call of the Batphone had always saved him in the nick of time.

All of this only cemented Dick’s decision that after the party was over he would never keep a secret from Bruce again, and he was eternally grateful that he didn’t have to hide being Robin from him; he wasn’t sure he’d be able to take the stress of it!

Aside from keeping a secret from Bruce, he had the additional stress of trying to organise the party itself. Dick had helped organise surprise parties before but nothing like on this scale; he’d never known anyone with this many friends before! Luckily for him, Bruce kept them all neatly organised in his address book, which Dick had been borrowing for short periods over the last few weeks. One of the hardest parts of the operation had been hiding the RSVPs, but Alfred had been sneaking them out of the mail before handing the rest to Bruce. For this reason, Dick had sent as few in letters as possible, choosing to call the rest on the phone or even to visit them in person - Aunt Harriet had been a great help for this as it was less suspicious for her to leave the house.

Having to also divide his attention between his school work and his crime fighting Dick delegated a lot of the shopping to Aunt Harriet, including decorations and presents. He also bought some presents himself, and wrapped them all carefully in his room after patrol at 3am. Alfred baked the cake and would prepare lots of finger food for the night. Dick thanked every deity he knew he’d decided on a low-key informal party; planning this was complicated enough, he didn’t want to imagine planning a whole fancy dinner! 

Still, it was the morning of Bruce’s birthday, everything was prepared (or would be by the evening), and Bruce was still none the wiser about the whole affair. Dick was exhausted but giddy with excitement. He’d almost done it! He was also quite nervous as there was still time for Bruce to find out, especially with Aunt Harriet being her usual excitable self, but if Dick could follow the plan and keep Bruce occupied for the day then it should all go off without a hitch.

Dick played it cool when he met Bruce in the morning, wishing him a happy birthday and telling him that the day was his and they could do anything he wanted together. Later they would have a special dinner prepared by Alfred and open the presents. Bruce seemed pleased and proposed a game of chess to start their day.

So far so good.

Until Clock King struck.

While Dick was relieved he wouldn’t have to come up with an excuse to keep Bruce out of the house all afternoon he was concerned about the case running over and being late for the party, especially if they suffocated in that hourglass trap. 

Luckily they escaped, but Clock King hadn’t given up yet and had almost destroyed Dick’s months of planning when Aunt Harriet unwittingly bought a tricked clock. Of course, his Aunt’s safety was his first concern and second was stopping Clock King, but once both of those had been taken care of Dick’s number one priority was to distract Bruce on the way back to the Batcave so he didn’t see the presents Aunt Harriet had pre-emptively displayed on the piano.

Only when they had made it down the Batpoles did Dick allow himself a quiet sigh of relief. Bruce hadn’t noticed, or at least if he had then he hadn’t given any indication of having noticed. But, Dick reasoned, today was his birthday, so even if he had seen them then there was an explanation and certainly no reason to suspect a party, right? Dick certainly hoped so, secretly pleased his Aunt hadn’t gotten around to putting the decorations up yet.

Luckily the case was closed in good time, if slightly early if the clock in the Commissioner’s office was accurate. He had almost done it! All Robin had to do now was stall Batman getting back to Wayne Manor to give Alfred and Aunt Harriet time to finish setting up and the guests time to arrive and—

“And speaking of time Chief O’Hara and I are late for the birthday party Dick Grayson’s aunt is giving for millionaire Bruce Wayne,” 

With that single sentence, Commissioner Gordon brought Dick’s world crashing down. Weeks, months of meticulous plotting and heavily guarded secrecy all for naught as the Commissioner unintentionally ruined everything, and gave Aunt Harriet all the credit!

Dick knew it was pointless to be annoyed with the Commissioner who after all didn’t know he’d just told Bruce Wayne about his own party, but he couldn’t help the irritation and devastation that clenched his stomach and made his heart drop.

Still he masterfully kept a straight face as Batman replied.

“Robin and I had the honour of being invited too Commissioner,” he glanced at Robin who bit his lip in frustration “unfortunately we cannot attend”

“Oh, too bad. It should be quite an affair, it’s a surprise party!” the Commissioner exclaimed excitedly.

Robin pressed his lips together, _well it_ was _a surprise party_ , he thought bitterly.

“I’m sure millionaire Bruce Wayne will be . . . quite surprised,” Batman answered before leading Robin out of the office and down to the Batmobile. 

Robin crossed his arms and sighed, watching dejectedly as Gotham City blurred past him. 

“Chin up, old chum,” Batman said lightly, “all things considered we should be glad the Commissioner didn’t know not to tell me,”

“I know Batman, but I worked so hard to keep it a secret, and you were only half an hour away from finding it out anyway! I was so close to finishing the mission,”

“The mission?” Batman asked with a chuckle.

“Obviously. It’s so hard to keep anything from you I had to make it into a whole mission, with operatives and strategies and backup plans,” Robin knew he was whining but he couldn’t help it.

Batman refrained from laughing, he knew Robin was truly upset, but hearing his terms for party planning was almost too much.

“I’m not sure Alfred or Aunt Harriet have ever been referred to as ‘operatives’ before,” Batman said with a smirk.

That made Robin crack a smile, “And they won’t ever again; I’m done keeping secrets from you, it’s way too much effort,”

Batman did laugh that time, “I’m glad to hear it, chum. Now if it makes you feel better I didn’t know until the Commissioner told me, and I will act suitably surprised when I walk through the door,”

Robin definitely perked up, “Gee thanks Bruce, and for real? You didn’t know!”

“No, you did a great job,”

Batman didn’t like lies, but little white lies were excusable, and if it meant Robin kept that smile on his face for the foreseeable future then it was worth it.

Of course, he’d known about the party all along. Though in Dick’s defence it wasn’t him who had first tipped him off; Aunt Harriet was perhaps one of the least subtle people Bruce had ever known and knew immediately that she was hiding something from him, and it hadn’t taken long for Bruce’s suspicion to shift to Dick. While Dick had done a very good job of keeping _what_ he was hiding secret, Bruce had known his birthday was coming up and had easily figured it out, but for Dick’s sake had played along. Though that didn’t mean he’d let him get away easily, so Bruce kept the invasive questions coming. It felt a bit harsh, but he knew that if he stopped asking questions Dick would be suspicious and know he’d worked it out.

But on the whole Dick had done an amazing job of keeping the _details_ a secret, and Bruce had to admit he was pleasantly surprised when he walked through the door. The party was a great hit and everyone enjoyed themselves, even Dick who’d cheered up considerably from earlier. Even if he learned he couldn’t keep a secret from Bruce, he also learned he had a knack for throwing a smashing party.


End file.
